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The Vitriol Against a Christian Speaker Is Getting Weird

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 31, 2023 6:00 PM

We've had a Speaker of the House for almost a week now after Republicans got their act enough together to rally around Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA). Although he was the fourth nominee, Republicans were completely united, and none of them voted for anyone else. Johnson was not particularly well-known, though that may have been in his favor, actually. Democrats were quick to speak out against him for his socially conservative views, including how he had once worked with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) on opposing same-sex marriage, long before the U.S. Supreme Court made it the law of the land with the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015. 

People also really went after Johnson for being a Christian, a fact he highlighted extensively in his speech and subsequent interviews. Predictably, there were ridiculous trends on X regarding the widely misunderstood concept of Separation of Church and State and even the term "Christofacist." Even nearly a week later, there are still trends regarding Johnson.

So-called "fact-checkers" like PolitiFact examined whether Johnson worked for a hate group, with a piece from last Friday asking, "Did Mike Johnson work for a hate group? SPLC and Christian law firm have sparred over label." The fact that the Southern Poverty Law Center is a highly discredited far-left organization that designates Christian law groups and parental rights groups on the same "hate maps" as they do groups like the Ku Klux Klan tells you all you need to know. SPLC itself could very well be described as a hate group.

So obsessed were social media trolls with Johnson's views on marriage that, as our friends at Twitchy highlighted, the Call to Activism X account, shared an old photo of the now speaker with his wife celebrating a birthday, implying he looked gay as an insult.

It's not just social media trolls that have been going after Johnson and his faith, though. NewsBusters highlighted some examples of the mainstream media going after Johnson, including MSNBC's Joy Reid. "On October 26, Reid praised the hysterical insight of The Daily Beast’s David Rothkopf on her show The ReidOut: 'Johnson is more dangerous than Donald Trump because Johnson actually wants to make America into a Christian theocracy,'" the piece mentioned.

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She had also invited New York Magazine’s Irin Carmon and author Judd Legum on to freak out about Johnson's views.

Rothkopf's headline declared "Here’s Why Mike Johnson Is More Dangerous Than Donald Trump." Like the social media trolls, he harps on "Christofacism" throughout his piece:

The most dangerous movement in American politics today is not Trumpism. It is Christofascism. With the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the organized effort to impose the extreme religious views of a minority of Americans on the entire country, at the expense of many of our most basic freedoms, took a disturbing step forward.

...

In fact, even as we see with chilling clarity how those with a similar motive have sought to infuse the law with their religious beliefs on the Supreme Court and in state capitals across the country, Johnson may be the most extreme example of a dangerously empowered religious fanatic in our recent history—and yes, I remember that Mike Pence was, not so long ago, the Vice President of the United States.

The term Christofascism may seem inflammatory. It is not. It is intended to provide the most accurate possible definition of what Johnson and those in his movement wish to achieve. Like other fascists they seek to impose by whatever means necessary their views on the whole of society even if that means undoing established laws and eliminating accepted freedoms. Christofascists do so in the name of advancing their Christian ideology, asserting that all in society must be guided by their views and values whether they adhere to them or not.

Although Johnson was little known outside Republican congressional circles (and not that well known within them), he made it clear from his first moments as speaker who he was and what kind of speaker he would be. In his opening remarks, he even suggested it was divine intervention that made him the second in the line of succession to the U.S. presidency. He said, “I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe that scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority.”

...

As benign as that may sound to those who find solace or inspiration in their Christian beliefs, the desire to institutionalize those beliefs and to impose them upon even those who do not share them is pernicious. It is the way of the Taliban and the mullahs in Iran, of Israel’s hard right and theocratic dictators throughout time. It negates the idea that the citizens of a nation should be the final authority in determining the course and laws of a society. In the name of a “higher authority,” it strips away rights and puts at risk all those who disagree.

...

Unfortunately for all of us, their wisdom and their warnings are seemingly being forgotten and all who hold beliefs inconsistent with those of a chosen evangelical Christian few are now increasingly at risk, as is the very idea of America as a free and democratic society.

It's no wonder that Reid would speak to such a piece. As extreme as she may be, Reid is just one example from the network, though. Others from MSNBC also have gone after Johnson.

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who now has a platform with her MSNBC show, went after the speaker in a particularly insufferable segment during her Sunday show, "Inside With Jen Psaki."

Mediaite highlighted that recent segment in a biting column from Caleb Howe, who mentioned in his closing, with original emphasis, that "[b]ecause you see, being a snarky, anti-religious, culty progressive DNC talking points prophet does not just inform Psaki’s world view, it is her world view."

With a sarcastic tone that Howe was quick to pick up on, Psaki pointed out that "first glance, Mike Johnson does seem fine, fine-ish. Conservative, yes. But he once started to civility caucus with a Democrat. And I mean, if nothing else, he wears a suit and has glasses. How threatening can this guy actually be?"

Psaki then revealed Johnson "gave us all a little clue as to how he would actually govern in an interview this week," playing a clip from the speaker's interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity from last Thursday, his first since taking on the role. 

That clip showed Johnson daring to point out that he holds a Christian worldview. "I am a Bible-believing Christian. Someone asked me today in the media, they said, 'Well, it’s curious. People are curious, what does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?' I said, well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s that’s my worldview."

"You heard that right," Psaki pointed out, as if Johnson had made some shocking declaration. "The Bible doesn’t just inform his worldview, it is his worldview." The screen then showed a headline from The Washington Post, "Mike Johnson suggests his election as House speaker ordained by God." 

Actually, Johnson suggested in his speech on the House floor that all of the members' elections were ordained by God. "'I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear: that God is the one who raises up those in authority,' Johnson said in his first speech after being elected speaker in a 220-209 vote. 'He raised up each of you. All of us,'" the piece quoted the newly elected speaker as having shared in his first speech. Psaki's program conveniently cut off the part that applies to all House members though.

"I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe that Scripture and the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us. And I believe God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment and this time. This is my belief," Johnson said in a more full context. "I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country and they deserve it."

Psaki saw it as another reason to mock, Johnson though, and by omitting context. "In fact during his first speech in his new job, Johnson suggested that his election as speaker was an act of God. Talk about a bit of a humblebrag there," she said, which again is negated by the part of Johnson's speech that mentions other members as well.

Howe pointed to even more examples from the network going after Johnson, including but not only limited to Psaki and Reid, who also had an article published on the MSNBC website for Saturday. He mentioned "The Katie Phang Show," The Sunday Show With Jonathan Capehart" as some of the weekend coverage, as well as other articles posted to the MSNBC website. 

It's not merely MSNBC or The Daily Beast, either. The New York Times had a particularly involving piece on Johnson's election as speaker, "For Mike Johnson, Religion Is at the Forefront of Politics and Policy." There were even subsections, including "Religion at the Forefront" and "A Win for the Far Right."